Old Friend Visiting..........

[Pablo]

So an athletics budget that's 9.5 million in 2005 and one that's 26 million in 2014 doesn't answer your question just a little bit?

gemini,

What is your source for the $26 million? I thought that the budget for athletics was about $19 million - see http://budget.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/15budexecsumm.pdf.

 

[GMUgemini]

Well there you have it. We have 17 million bucks, more than enough to fire the clown and hire a top notch guy.

Seriously, can you post the link to this budget u speak of?

http://budget.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/05budexecsumm.pdf

 

[GMUgemini]

gemini,

What is your source for the $26 million? I thought that the budget for athletics was about $19 million - see http://budget.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/15budexecsumm.pdf.

I had not seen current year's budget. I was going off of USA Today's database, which is for FY13. And admittedly I was off there, too, USA Today has our budget for '13 as 22.1 million. See: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/schools/finances/

What is nice about this resource is you can drill down and see contributions, student fees, rights/licensing and ticket sales in 2005 versus 2013.

 

[Pablo]

I had not seen current year's budget. I was going off of USA Today's database, which is for FY13. And admittedly I was off there, too, USA Today has our budget for '13 as 22.1 million. See: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/schools/finances/

What is nice about this resource is you can drill down and see contributions, student fees, rights/licensing and ticket sales in 2005 versus 2013.

Given the actual budget, do you see anything to support A-Siegfried's position that the AD is bankrupct?

 

[GSII]

Better yet do you see expenses that are new and in the 13 million range? Cuz thats alot of dough to have and still say we can't can the clown.

 

[MasonFanatic]

I don't. If we average 3500 a game at 25 a ticket and cut prices to say, 15 we'd have to average a little over 5,800 to break even.

I don't know the numbers but 15 is probably too low, just as 25 is too high. I know a number of people who say they would come if the tickets were cheaper or the product was better.

And what about concession sale? Surely they make more off of 4500 people than 3500.

 

[A.-Siegfried]

Given the actual budget, do you see anything to support A-Siegfried's position that the AD is bankrupct?

If we have all this cash floating around...why isn't anything being done with it? Why did the baseball field upgrades get nixed? Why doesn't the men's basketball team fly on more charter flights? Where, exactly, is all this extra money floating around going to? Wrestling barely survived the chopping block, only because they went out and starting raising their own cash. Does that sound like a financial stable athletic department? This is all common knowledge. So, I'll ask again. If the Mason athletic department isn't hurting for funds...why is there ZERO improvement in any facilities, travel, etc for ANY team?

I'll wait...but I'm guessing I wont get any answers. Remember as well, the cost for athletics will rise (i.e. budget) along with the cost of tuition.

 

[Pablo]

A-Siegfried,

You're the one who claimed several times that the AD is bankrupct. It isn't! And, evidently, you don't have sufficient financial expertise to understand that the AD is neither bankrupct nor financially unstable. Would the AD benefit with additional resources? Absolutely, it would and, hopefully, AD Edwards will be effective in this area.

I'm guessing that you're a student who works part-time in the AD and you've heard the employees complaining about funding. Because, I'm certainly not aware that it's "common knowledge" the AD is in dire straits as you suggest.

 

[gmujim92]

If we have all this cash floating around...why isn't anything being done with it? Why did the baseball field upgrades get nixed? Why doesn't the men's basketball team fly on more charter flights? Where, exactly, is all this extra money floating around going to? Wrestling barely survived the chopping block, only because they went out and starting raising their own cash. Does that sound like a financial stable athletic department? This is all common knowledge. So, I'll ask again. If the Mason athletic department isn't hurting for funds...why is there ZERO improvement in any facilities, travel, etc for ANY team?

I'll wait...but I'm guessing I wont get any answers. Remember as well, the cost for athletics will rise (i.e. budget) along with the cost of tuition.

The fact that our overall athletic budget is around $20 million a year doesn't scream "We're broke!"

It screams "We offer way too many sports that take money out but don't bring any in."

Cut some non-revenue sports, get as close to the minimum number required by the A-10, and that will make everyone's slice of the pie bigger.

Also should consider a small increase in student fees. As has been noted, even a $20 increase would generate thousands of much needed dollars for athletics.

 

[Pablo]

The fact that our overall athletic budget is around $20 million a year doesn't scream "We're broke!"

It screams "We offer way too many sports that take money out but don't bring any in."

Cut some non-revenue sports, get as close to the minimum number required by the A-10, and that will make everyone's slice of the pie bigger.

Also should consider a small increase in student fees. As has been noted, even a $20 increase would generate thousands of much needed dollars for athletics.

Jim,

I believe that about 20% of the student fees are allocated to athletics. So, I assume that you're saying to increase fees sufficiently to raise the AD allocation by at least $20. Also, which sports do you recommend eliminating?

 

[gmujim92]

Jim,

I believe that about 20% of the student fees are allocated to athletics. So, I assume that you're saying to increase fees sufficiently to raise the AD allocation by at least $20. Also, which sports do you recommend eliminating?

If it was up to me, I'd bump the athletic portion of the student fee $50 a year -- with about 20,000 full-time students, that would generate an extra million bucks that I'd give directly to men's basketball.

And even with a $50 increase, our fees would still be among the lowest in Virginia.

As for eliminating sports, I'd start with tennis (M&W), volleyball (M&W), cross country (M&W) men's golf and women's rowing.

We'd be left with:

Basketball (M&W), Soccer (M&W), Track (M&W), Swimming and Diving (M&W), Baseball, Softball, Wrestling and Women's Lacrosse.

That's 12 teams. I could be wrong, but I think that's the minimum.

Because we don't have football, we can do this easily without running afoul of Title IX.

It's just not realistic to think that a school with one revenue sport can adequately support all these different teams. We've been content with being mediocre for far too long. That needs to change.

 

[psyclone]

If it was up to me, I'd bump the athletic portion of the student fee $50 a year -- with about 20,000 full-time students, that would generate an extra million bucks that I'd give directly to men's basketball.

And even with a $50 increase, our fees would still be among the lowest in Virginia. ....

We've gone over this before--in an environment where there's a lot of grumbling about student debt, rising tuition, and diminishing support from the state, you're not going to get support for raising student fees for athletics. You're swimming against a tidal wave. Cabrera already is on record on this when the subject of football came up at his introductory press conference.

 

[gmujim92]

We've gone over this before--in an environment where there's a lot of grumbling about student debt, rising tuition, and diminishing support from the state, you're not going to get support for raising student fees for athletics. You're swimming against a tidal wave. Cabrera already is on record on this when the subject of football came up at his introductory press conference.

Not trying to be a d!ck, but what part of "if it was up to me" did you not get?

 

[Pablo]

If it was up to me, I'd bump the athletic portion of the student fee $50 a year -- with about 20,000 full-time students, that would generate an extra million bucks that I'd give directly to men's basketball.

And even with a $50 increase, our fees would still be among the lowest in Virginia.

As for eliminating sports, I'd start with tennis (M&W), volleyball (M&W), cross country (M&W) men's golf and women's rowing.

We'd be left with:

Basketball (M&W), Soccer (M&W), Track (M&W), Swimming and Diving (M&W), Baseball, Softball, Wrestling and Women's Lacrosse.

That's 12 teams. I could be wrong, but I think that's the minimum.

Actually, you need a minimum of 14 sports for D-I. Either 7 each for the men and women, or 6 sports for the men and 8 for the women. I certainly favor retaining cross country for both the men and women. Not only did the men just win the A10 team championship, but cross country is important for the track & field programs.

I would also retain women's volleyball.

 

[psyclone]

I think the fees should be jacked up $100.00, but if the students attend 3 of the Men's basketball games, it get's refunded. Or maybe 6 games from any of the sports. Need more students getting involved, and they would likely go with friends who are all trying to get the refund.

Those that don't meet the quota help the program through extra fees. Those that make the quota help the program through more student fan support.

I can imagine the uproar from non-fans having to pay while those that "benefit" from actually attending games wind up getting a free ride. But if it succeeds, maybe it will start a trend---charging everyone for a parking tag unless they actually have a car!

 

[psyclone]

Not trying to be a d!ck, but what part of "if it was up to me" did you not get?

Granted you didn't say that Cabrera would do it; I was just pointing out why your suggestion is unlikely to be implemented, unless you and other like-minded folks have some grand plan for being appointed to the Board of Visitors.

 

[A.-Siegfried]

A-Siegfried,

You're the one who claimed several times that the AD is bankrupct. It isn't! And, evidently, you don't have sufficient financial expertise to understand that the AD is neither bankrupct nor financially unstable. Would the AD benefit with additional resources? Absolutely, it would and, hopefully, AD Edwards will be effective in this area.

I'm guessing that you're a student who works part-time in the AD and you've heard the employees complaining about funding. Because, I'm certainly not aware that it's "common knowledge" the AD is in dire straits as you suggest.

Guess all you want but you are as wrong on that as you are on the financial of the AD. No one answered the question I posed as to where all the money is you guys think the AD has. Why weren't the baseball fields upgraded? Why did wrestling have to survive on its own? etc etc etc.

But hey...I'll walk it back just for you. I believe (happy?) the AD is having serious money issues. Perhaps not bankrupt (not sure I ever used that term.."broke", yes) but they certainly aren't swimming in the cash you people think they are. Again, instead of arguing with me here...go ask.

Now, if you'll excuse me...I have exams to study for. But feel free to stop by the front desk at the field house if you want to discuss further.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

The whole background of this conversation lies in whether we were able to eat two years of Hewitt, not whether we need to file a Chapter 11, Pablo. Stop being disingenuous.

Good question. If we had to cancel stage one of baseball upgrades, which only cost 250k, our AD could just eat 1.7 million exactly how?

 

[GSII]

They issue bonds to pay for buildings. Same clever manuever was used to pay for Johnson Center. In doing so for all the planned projects listed in the budget on page 103 of the factbook, our credit rating would of dropped. So Cabrerra said no to a few things and baseball was one.

 

[GSII]

[QUOTE="CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY, post: 28180, member: 174"

Good question. If we had to cancel stage one of baseball upgrades, which only cost 250k, our AD could just eat 1.7 million exactly how?[/QUOTE]


the same way we were willing to leave 900 K behind to join me a 10 one year earlier.